Central Bucks West kept its season alive with a heartstopping 11-10 overtime win over Merion Mercy in a District One playback game Tuesday.
#15 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 11, #19 MERION MERCY 10 (OT)
Lauren Devlin didn’t have a good feeling when Merion Mercy came up with the ball on the draw to start sudden death overtime.
“I was so scared,” the Bucks’ junior goalie said. “As soon as I saw them get the draw, I was like, ‘I need to save this one, I need to save this one for my team. This is on me. I need to save it.’”
Devlin – who repeatedly came up big for the Bucks in regulation – needn’t have worried. The Bucks gained possession when the Golden Bears – under pressure – threw the ball out of bounds near midfield.
The Bucks set up for the potential game winner, but a shot that never made it to the cage resulted in a loose ball near the crease that created a frenzy of activity.
“I think in that situation a new kind of intensity forms,” freshman Casey Reichwein said. “You’ll stop at nothing.
“It’s whoever wants it more will succeed during that time. It was kind of luck that my stick hit it in the first place. It bounced off of something, and I wasn’t thinking of anything besides ‘I’ve got to get this ball, I’ve got to get this ball.’”
Reichwein, in the midst of a crowd, drew the foul and found herself at the eight-meter mark for a free position shot. She calmly fired it into the net for a goal that set off a jubilant celebration.
“It was just the greatest feeling,” Reichwein said. “We wanted this game so bad. I wanted to get that shot for my team. It was all because of everybody else’s hard work. It really was a team win.”
Devlin – watching from the opposite end of the field – had complete confidence in her teammate.
“I knew (she’d) get it,” the Bucks’ goalie said. “I was like, ‘Casey’s got this.’ I wasn’t worried. As someone who takes Casey’s shot a lot (in practice), I knew that she had it.
“I was so excited. First of all, I was so excited that I didn’t have to save that last shot. Oh my gosh – once I saw the ball hit the back of the goal, I was screaming. I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast in my entire life. I’m so proud of my team.”
Reichwein finished with two goals and an assist and also drew a charge on the defensive end in the closing seconds of regulation with Merion Merion in possession of the ball.
“Casey is always so composed – you don’t know she’s a freshman,” coach Tara Schmucker said. “She doesn’t get rattled, she has the same face, no matter if we’re up or down.
“She has one of the top shooting percentages for our team, and I just had complete faith in her when she stepped to that line.”
Early on, the Bucks looked like a team on a mission after Saturday’s disappointing loss to Bishop Shanahan in a district quarterfinal game, sprinting out of the gate to a 6-1 lead after Olivia Fitzgerald scored with 11:43 remaining in the first half.
“It was really important to get our momentum back after Saturday’s game,” Devlin said. “We definitely didn’t show our potential on Saturday, and I think we wanted to step it up and show everybody what West is made of.”
“We knew we weren’t done after Saturday’s game,” Reichwein added. “We didn’t want to end on a bad note, so we just knew we had to come back strong.
“We’re a lot better team than we showed on Saturday.”
Earlier, the Bucks suffered a setback when Bryn Boylan was helped off the field with 17:30 showing on the scoreboard clock after injuring her ankle.
“Bryn is definitely a central part of this team,” Reichwein said of the junior midfielder who returned in the second half. “She’s an awesome player, but we knew that we couldn’t stop.
“We wanted this game so bad, and we had to keep going.”
“Even when Bryn was out, it actually made us want it more,” Devlin said. “Because she’s such an essential player, and we all love Bryn – you can’t not love Bryn, and once she got injured, we were all like, ‘Let’s do it for Bryn.’”
The Golden Bears reeled off five unanswered goals to knot the score 6-6 when Caroline Steller scored with 1:10 remaining in the half. A goal by Finley Ueland sent the Bucks into halftime with a 7-6 lead.
Early in the second half, the Golden Bears knotted the score, but a Maddie Maio takeaway set the stage for a Dani Dundas goal (Chloe Miller-Russo assist). Merion Mercy took a 9-8 lead with 11:55 remaining on a Jackie Benedict goal, but just over a minute later, Reichwein answered with the equalizer.
Merion Mercy took its final lead with 4:21 showing on the clock, and after the Bucks saw a shot for the tie miss wide, the Golden Bears gained possession and looked to run out the clock. It didn’t look promising for the Bucks until a back pass to the Bears’ lone defender resulted in a loose ball that was pounced on just beyond midfield by Dundas, who raced downfield and found the net with the equalizer.
“Dani Dundas came up big,” Reichwein said. “Oh my gosh, it was awesome.”
“I was jumping up and down,” Devlin said. “I was so excited.”
The Golden Bears came up with the ball on the draw, but the Bucks’ defense held, setting the stage for the high drama overtime.
Devlin finished with 10 saves in another strong outing.
“Lauren Devlin really stepped up tonight,” Schmucker said. “And when we needed it, she got it.
“I also think Liv Fitgerald and Chloe Miller-Russo stepped up nicely for us on attack tonight.”
Dundas and Fitzgerald led the Bucks with three goals each. Maio and Reichwein both had two goals while Ueland had a goal and assist. Also contributing assists were Boylan, Reichwein, Miller-Russo and Meghan Darcy.
“It was not perfect,” Schmucker said of her team’s performance. “Some turnovers got the best of us, and our defense did not adjust well to quick transition 1v1 goals, but they continued fighting.
“We have had a difficult time coming back when we have lost momentum, and that is what I am proud of tonight. We had another poor draw control showing, and I think our teamwork was not great on both ends, but they pulled it out and we survived to see another day.”
The Bucks (16-6, 9-1 SOL) will face Conestoga in Thursday’s fifth place game. The Pioneers – the top seed entering the district tournament – made easy business of Unionville in the other playback game, rolling to an 18-7 win.
Merion Mercy 6-4-0 10
Central Bucks West 7-3-1 11
About the Author
